I have a very weak (1 1/2 frames) nuc that had a marked queen (went queenless) installed 2 days ago. Today the nuc has bees fighting on the ground and and my marked queen(carniolan) is bring balled. The nuc is now overflowing with bees and they have an Italian queen. Will a swarm overtake a weak colony?
swarm takes over nuc?
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Heard of some guys talking about AHBs doing that in Arizona and down south. Strange.
sounds like robbing to me. If they're fighting and they're balling your queen those could be the robber bees. That's my first thought. Just before dark see how many bees are in the hive. That could tell you what's going on. I've not read of a swarm taking up residence in a hive that's weak. In Michigan you don't have africanized bees.
I checked the nuc just before dark, and they now have about 4 frames of bees. This nuc was on life support from my other colonies until their new queen started laying. If this is a swarm they have all the help they could get from nature.
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